As it has been written, 2013 was a pretty great year for movies. So great, in fact, that a simple top-10 list seems inadequate at best and incomplete at worst. As such, here's my list of the 29 best movies of 2013, a surfeit of titles that still manages to leave off pretty good movies like "Fruitvale Station," "Man of Steel," "Prisoners," "The Place Beyond The Pines," "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues," "Lee Daniels' The Butler," "The To-Do List," all the Scarlett Johansson parts in "Don Jon" ...

Brie Larson is the exception to that assumption. When I greet her over the phone for our interview, she says she just finished a casual lunch with her mom. On break from shooting films, she likes to read, hike, and tend to her gardens.

Short Term 12, a film starring Brie Larson as the supervisor of a foster home for at-risk teenagers, won the grand jury award at this year's South by Southwest film festival -- and if you see Short Term 12, you'll know exactly why.

I recently attended a screening of Short Term 12, a wonderful movie about a foster care facility for at-risk teenagers in Los Angeles. It was inspired by the real experience of the writer-director, Destin Daniel Cretton, who worked in the foster-care system, and it shows in its insight into the struggles of both the residents and the staff.

Starting on July 12, The Hamptons International Film Festival and the Southampton Center (located at 25 Jobs Lane, in the heart of Southampton Village) will co-present the inaugural season of FILM @ Southampton Center.

BAM CinemaFest turned five this year and I loved their line-up. My two favorites were their Friday night films: last week's Crystal Fairy by Sebastian Silva and Closing Night film Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton.

The 2013 South By Southwest Film Festival comes to a close on Saturday night with a screening of the upcoming Fox Searchlight indie thriller "The East." Since kicking off on March 8 with the premiere of "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," SXSW has screened more than 130 features and shorts and hosted numerous panels. Who and what were the biggest winners of the Austin-set festival of cool?